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Exaggeration
Exaggeration is a representation of something in an excessive manner. The exaggerator has been a familiar figure in Western culture since at least Aristotle's discussion of the alazon: 'the boaster is regarded as one who pretends to have distinguished qualities which he possesses either not at all or to a lesser degree than he pretends...exaggerating'.Aristotle, Ethics (Penguin 1976) p. 165 It is the opposite of minimisation. Words or expressions associated with exaggeration include: Everyday and psycho-pathological contexts Contexts of exaggeration include: Manipulation The boasting and bragging by arrogant or manipulative people has been sent up on stage since the first appearance of the alazon - 'a stock character in Greek comedy'.H. J. Rose, A Handbook of Latin Literature (London 1966)p. 49 Inflated praise in the form of flattery and puffery has a similarly lengthy history. Amplifying achievements, obstacles and problems to seek attention is an everyday occurrence, as 'in exaggerating what one feels by magnifying the emotional expression: this is the ploy used by the six-year-old who dramatically twists her face into a pathetic frown, lips quivering, as she runs to complain to her mother about being teased'.Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (London 1996) p. 113 Exaggerating is also a type of deception,Guerrero, L., Anderson, P., Afifi, W. (2007). Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications. as well as a means of malingering - magnifying small injuries or discomforts as an excuse to avoid responsibilities.R. Rogers Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception 3rd Edition, Guilford, 2008. ISBN 1-59385-699-7 Cognitive distortions Cognitive behavioral therapy views magnification (as opposed to minimization) as unconscious, unrealistic mental processing or cognitive distortion, which can take the form of probability overestimation or of catastrophizing. This is better known as 'making a big deal out of nothing.' 'Whereas probability overestimation refers to exaggerating the "likelihood" of an event, catastrophizing refers to exaggerating the "importance" of the event'.M. M. Antony/P. J. Norton, The Anti-Anxiety Workbook (2008) p. 83 Closely related 'is overgeneralizing. You take a single negative event and see it as a never-ending pattern of defeat'.Paul Gilbert, Overcoming Depression (London 1999) p. 286 Another form of cognitive exaggeration is inflation of the difficulty of achieving a goal after attaining it, possibly to improve self-esteem.Beth Azar All puffed up Monitor on Psychology June 2007, Vol 38, No. 6 In depression, exaggerated all-or-nothing thinking can form a self-reinforcing cycle: 'these thoughts might be called emotional amplifiers because, as they go around and around, they become more intense....Here are some typical all-or-nothing thoughts: * My efforts are either a success or they are an abject failure * I am/other people are either all good or all bad * if you're not with us, you're against us'.Gilbert, p. 63 and p. 98 Pathology Psychoanalysis considered that 'if neurotic exaggerations - namely, attitudes in which a relatively harmless thing is emotionally overvalued - are analyzed, the results demonstrate that they are derivatives of something that has been repressed...displacement'.Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1994) p. 149 Thus for example a conflict over ambivalence may be resolved 'by this means. The subject's hatred of a person whom he loves is kept down by an exaggerated amount of tenderness for him'.Sigmund Freud, On Psychopathology (PFL 10) p. 317 The grandiose sense of self-importance observed in narcissists also uses exaggeration to thwart any recognition of fallibility, 'any step towards help....The grandiose side of the self always steps in at such a moment and exaggerates the truth, saying something like, "You see? Everything you've done is absolutely hopeless'.Neville Symington, Narcissism: A New Theory (London 1993) p. 71 "Self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion" can be observed in those with histrionic personality disorderDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000) and other Cluster B personality disorders; while "catastrophizing" is associated with depressive, neurotic or paranoid behavior – focusing on the worst possible outcome, however unlikely, or thinking that a situation is unbearable or impossible when it is really just uncomfortable. http://www.outofthefog.net/CommonBehaviors/Catastrophizing.html Exaggeration may also be observed in abusers or manipulators to amplify or fabricate faults of the victim as a component of victim blaming. Humour 'Some theoreticians of the comic consider exaggeration to be a universal comic device'.Emil Draitser, Techniques of Satire (1994) p. 135 It may take different forms in different genres, but all rely on the fact that 'the easiest way to make things laughable is to exaggerate to the point of absurdity their salient traits'.M. Eastman/W. Fry, Enjoyment of Laughter (2008) p. 156 Caricature A caricature can refer to a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness: 'disproportionately increasing and emphasizing the defects of the features'.Filippo Baldinucci, quoted in Harold Osborne ed., The Oxford Companion to Art (Oxford 1992) p. 204 In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricature in literature Slapstick Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence and activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense. These exaggerated depictions are often found in children's cartoons, and light film comedies aimed at younger audiences. Paradoxical laughter Paradoxical laughter is an exaggerated expression of humor which is unwarranted by external events. It may be uncontrollable laughter which may be recognised as inappropriate by the person involved. Freud considered 'the compulsive laughter which so often occurs on mournful occasions'Sigmund Freud, Case Studies II (PFL 9) p. 74 the by-product of ambivalence. Miles Gloriosus The boastful soldier or Miles Gloriosus has for thousands of years formed part of the Western stage. 'The original miles gloriosus in Plautus is a son of Jove and Venus who has killed an elephant with his fist and seven thousand men in one day's fighting. In other words, he is trying to put on a good show: the exuberance of his boasting helps to put the play over'.Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton 1973) p. 165 Overacting Overacting is the exaggeration of gestures and speech when acting. It may be unintentional, particularly in the case of a bad actor, or be required for the role. For the latter, it is commonly used in comical situations or to stress the evil characteristics of a villain. Since the perception of acting quality differs between people the extent of overacting can be subjective. Tragedy Though the boaster (alazon) is primarily a comic figure, 'the alazon may be one aspect of the tragic hero as well: the touch of miles gloriosus in Tamburlaine, even in Othello, is unmistakable, as is the touch of the obsessed philosopher in Faustus and Hamlet'.Frye, p. 39 Expressionism '"Expressionist art"...attempted to intensify the expression of feeling and attitude by exaggeration'.Harold Bloom, Thomas Hardy (2010) p. 93 In its wake, even the 'new and hard realism...kept much of the distortion and exaggeration which had been one of the chief devices of earlier Expressionism'.Harold Osborne ed., The Oxford Companion to Art (Oxford 1992) p. 397 Metaphors * "Making a mountain out of a molehill" * "Blow out of proportion" or "Blow out of all proportion" * "The sky is falling in" * "World War III has broken out" See also * Fear mongering * Hypercriticism * Hypervigilance * Illusory superiority * Negativity effect * Positive illusions * Positivity effect * Spin * Superiority complex References Further reading Books * Duttmann, AG; Phillips, J Philosophy of Exaggeration (Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy) (2007) Academic papers * Clayer, JR; Bookless, C; Ross, MW Neurosis and conscious symptom exaggeration: Its differentiation by the illness behaviour questionnaire Journal of Psychosomatic Research Volume 28, Issue 3, 1984, Pages 237-241 * Demaree, HA; Schmeichel, BJ; Robinson, JL; Everhart, D. Erik Behavioural, affective, and physiological effects of negative and positive emotional exaggeration. Cognition and Emotion, Volume 18, Number 8, 2004, 1079-1097(19) * Masterson, J; Dunworth, R; Williams, N Extreme illness exaggeration in pediatric patients: A variant of Munchausen's by Proxy?. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Vol 58(2), Apr 1988, 188-195. * McNicholas, F Slonims, V & Cass H Exaggeration of Symptoms or Psychiatric Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy? Child and Adolescent Mental Health 2003 Volume 5 Issue 2, Pages 69 – 75 * Mittenberg, W; Patton, C; Canyock, EM; Condit, DC Base rates of malingering and symptom exaggeration. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. Vol 24(8), Dec 2002, 1094-1102. * Mueller, J Simplicity and spook: Terrorism and the dynamics of threat exaggeration International Studies Perspectives, 2005 * Pieper, WJ Exaggeration, puffery, inferential beliefs and deception in advertising - 1976 - University of South Carolina. * Sperling, OE Exaggeration as a Defense. Psychoanal Q., 32:553-548. (1963). External links * Magnification and Minimization * Cognitive Distortion #6: Magnification and Minimization Category:Social psychology Category:Cognitive biases Category:Defence mechanism Category:Diversionary tactics Category:Deception